RMMS Students Launch Pennies for Peace Campaign
Under the leadership of Mr. Walden, Mrs. Nocella, and Mr. Wetzel, teachers at Robert Moses Middle School, students there have embarked on a Pennies for Peace campaign to broaden their cultural horizons and become members of a global family dedicated to peace. To that end, they have joined hands with tens of thousands of other school children around the world who share the vision and dedication to empower communities through education in remote areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan.
You might wonder, how can a penny bring peace? It doesn't buy much in North Babylon, but in the villages of Pakistan and Afghanistan, it can buy a pencil, start an education and transform a life. In a region where terrorist organizations recruit uneducated, illiterate children, that pencil can empower a child to read, write, and learn. The Pennies for Peace program goal is to encourage children, who are ultimately future leaders, to learn the value of philanthropy by collecting pennies for global peace and to help other children in impoverished countries who also will be future leaders. In essence, Pennies for Peace builds human bridges throughout the world.
RMMS students have embraced this campaign and will have an opportunity to study the cultures of Afghanistan and Pakistan, to learn to work and share together in this campaign, and to come to understand their own capacity as philanthropists--one penny at a time.
The pennies that Robert Moses students collect can add up to make a real difference. For instance, 1 penny = a pencil, 2-3 pennies = an eraser, 15 pennies = one notebook, $20 = one child's school supplies for one year, $100 = maternal healthcare supplies for one year, $300 = one advanced student's annual scholarship, $600 = one teacher's annual salary, $5,000 = support for existing school for one year, $50,000 = one school building and support for up to five years.
Children in over 400 mountain villages in remote northern Pakistan and Afghanistan are on the waiting list, hoping to learn in a new school. Robert Moses students hope to build a bridge of peace, one penny at a time, offering alternatives to the cycle of terrorism and war.